The following is a guest post by Steven Seto, a Microsoft MVP for Tablet PC and Touch. Steve will offer periodic insight, how-to’s, and troubleshooting focused on the tablet pc space.
Some users have reported having intermittent or erratic behavior with the Digital Pencil with the HP Slate 500 Tablet PC. Failure to ink or intermittent inking are among the symptoms reported. Removing and replacing the battery, or tightening the battery cap are reported to “fix” the problem.
It appears that the cause is due to anodizing being deposited on the body screw threads by accident. Anodizing coatings are typically not conductive, so they can cause an open circuit in the (battery) ground path of the Pencil.
One approach that should fix the problem is to remove the battery and then screw the cap on and off several times. Using a small, stiff plastic brush (like an old, clean toothbrush or a clean electric razor brush), carefully brush out the body and cap threads after each cycle. Four or five cycles should do it.
If you do this and continue to have problems, please report back.
My company also experienced intermittent inking problems with the HP Slate 500. We tried using another N-trig stylus (from our HTC Flyer) with it and this alleviated some of the inking problems, but by no means all. We also found the Slate 500 to be highly prone to stray touches, not only via its touchscreen, but from the poorly positioned control buttons on each corner — in precisely the same locations where users tend to hold the device. Finally, we gave up on the 500 and tossed it in a drawer, where it sits, unwanted and unused, to this day.
Thank you. This seems to have solved the problem. This device has been my life blood this year as an educator. Did not realize how much until the pen started acting up this week.